The present invention relates to methods of skinning animals, particularly small, fur-bearing animals.
Animals such as raccoon, mink, etc., which are hunted or grown primarily for the fur pelts which they provide are generally skinned by an entirely manual process. Cuts are made in the hide along the inside of each hind leg, allowing the hide to be stripped back, with the aid of a knife, over the animal's hindquarters. Skinning is continued and completed by continuing to pull the hide away from carcass in one continuous piece so that it is turned inside out, i.e., the pelt is in the nature of a bag or pouch open only at one end with the fur on the inside when skinning is completed.
It is the usual practise in most fur-producing operations to skin a number of animals consecutively. Thus, skinning may proceed for a number of hours or even several days. Since the hides of most animals adhere very tightly to the carcass, the skinning operation is very strenuous and tiresome, particularly after the same person has skinned a number of animals. Although a few hours of apparatus for aiding in skinning operations have been proposed in the past, they tend to be large and expensive, suited primarily for slaughterhouse application to large animals, and/or unsuitable for protecting the quality and integrity of fur pelts.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a method of skinning small animals which is easy and efficient, while requiring only very simple and inexpensive hardware in its application.
A further object is to provide a method of skinning small animals which may be performed by a single individual without unduly strenuous and fatiguing labor.
Another object is to provide a method of skinning small animals which may be performed rapidly and easily without substantial danger of damage to the pelts.
Other objects will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.